Tuesday

All moms face many situations that create some parenting dilemma..in their lives. And living away from your own parents in a different country, you dont have some suggestions, traditions, practices that were followed by your mom when you were a kid. Temporarily you may have some help from them when they are with you when the baby is too young. But, as the baby grows older, you have to deal with everything.. and are pretty much on your own..I do call and ask my mum, about different things.. but not all those suggestions/methods always work for my situation.. Its good to know them anyway just coz most of them were tried and tested over time. And again coming back to being the foreign country thing, there are cultural differences, and practical issues that are just different and have to be dealt with differently, and your mom's solution for what she did with you in India may not be relevant for you and your child .. I felt sometimes in anxiety, that someone told me how to deal with the situation. (I'll talk more specifics later.. :)) I did see some friends going through the same situations, and the issues they faced. But again, every parenting style is different and every kid is different, so that may not work out for you.. Again coming back to the thing of you are by yourself..

Eventually..though, I do settle down, and try to breakdown the problem and tackle it in my own little steps and ways.. And when something works out, the pleasure is immense..I feel glad, I am able to make decisions with insight of how I want to deal with something as a mom and that is driven by the personality of my child .. A solution that works for us.. And that gives me more confidence about my "mommy skills" and its all a very warm fuzzy feeling.. :) You probably know what I mean...

OK..So, there are a million,zillion websites and blogs about parenting.. and I do know that, and I am not trying to be different or anything.. but will probably be just one of them.. :) But, I think there may be some fun and benefit in sharing my own little experience with others.. About what worked for me.. and my child... ! And learn about what worked for you .. May be my next child wont be like my older one, and I have to try some other ways... ! And tips from other bloggers will surely be handy :)

You may know some facts about me.. but just to reiterate things, relevant to this section and the topics I will talk about here -

I am a full time working mom..living in the USA .. and who "wants to try balancing the family and still have a rewarding and challenging professional life without compromising a lot in either aspects " (I believe some compromise in either areas is inevitable but, a lot is unacceptable :)) Our little family is my dear husband..(DH), my darling little son (R) and me. My roots are from India. But, I have been here ever since I got married. My son was born in 2005...and my life has been way more exciting, happy and worth-while ever since..

I will start posting on topics related to parenting and children.. And am excited about prospects of learning a lot more things.. from all your experiences..

7 comments:

This is always a great topic, so many of us have little ones... I can't imagine how hard it is to parent without the grandparents around... My parents have been an immeasurable help for me... but you can still get a lot of help even if your parents aren't with you physically, I'm sure :) I look forward to further posts!

I didn't had my mom here but then i was lucky i had my in laws here and we live in the same town and if i didn't know somethingi just rang her. I remember when I had shyama , fourth day after giving birth i was home and i didn't even know how to bath shyama and MIL came and showed me how to.Lookin froward to your posts.

Hi Pallavi, I totally u/stand not being around elders for advise. Neither my parents nor my in-laws were able to make it when I had my son, so it was up to me to figure out things and it was pretty difficult. Your series is going to be very informative.

Wonderful thought, rest assured that i will be hooked to this one :-)Parenting had always been a tough job,but with so many sweet rewards for me(not the monetary ofcourse)and like you ,i am also a full time mom,but do blog to nourish my creative aspectwill love to share so many things,as and when things comes upBye and take care

meeso : Yes I do meeso, I do talk to my mum over the phone many times :)

happycook: lucky you.. both my parents and inlaws are in India..

Pavani: Wow.. ! That would have been very very difficult. I did have them when my son was born. So, at that time it was not so bad.

Alka:Yes, totally.. I'll hope to see your comments and stories.. ! I cant even begin to explain the rewarding part in words.. How much ever I thought ok.. I understand what my mom says.. It wasnt until I became a mom did I really realize what it felt like.. You've gotto feel it to know it I guess :)

Somehow, I was very determined right from the beginning that whenever we had a baby, it would be the two of us who would be totally involved in bringing her up - even to the extent I remember telling hubby when we got married that I would not go to my mother's place as people usually do and whenever it was that we planned to have a baby, it would be right here in our home.I do listen to any advice my parents and in laws may have (especially my Dad who seems to be much better at taking a rational reasonable view) but at the end of the day it's me and hubby. I appreciate then, your concerns of struggling over the decisions we make and the parents we want to be.I too am a full time working mom and for a brief period switched jobs to write for a parenting website and am always amazed at how each parent wants to do the best that they can - so I think, the best we can do to support each other is to respect that and not judge another parent. Thanks for starting this section!